Welcome to My Nightmare Iowa, It’s Dreamy….For the Most Part

I introduced myself as your new afternoon guy on Khak. All the stuff I wrote about John Lithgow and Lex Luthor, was all just in fun. I don't even have a dog! And, I mean John Lithgow is a great actor but who can watch Harry and the Hendersons and Footloose more than once in a lifetime? Amiright?

So, since I'll be spending every weekday afternoon with me (hopefully) I think you should get to know the real me.

Savin' Lives & Takin' Names We should probably start with my work experience. Before that, life, for me, was somewhat uneventful. I wasn’t known as Sloppy Joe then, just regular old Joe. OK, there were a few events. Like the time we were shot at, or the time we delivered a baby, then another baby when I was an EMT/Firefighter.

I joined the volunteer fire department in Germantown, Maryland when I was 16. I got most of the fire classes, except pumps and hydraulics, and my EMT by 17 and was riding charge on my 18th birthday. I took the expedited courses with the paid recruits and not the usual volunteer route. The Pumps and Hydraulics course still drives by my house and taunts me with “You know you’ll never pass this because you never tried”. I loved riding the ambulance and that was back when they called it the blood bucket. Most of the firefighters would rather ride the engine or ladder trucks, even the brush truck. They were happy to let me ride the ambulance all I wanted.

I mentioned we were shot at. Well, someone was. We didn’t know about it until a day or so later. The light bar had a hole in it and the top of the box also had what appeared to be a bullet hole. It was found while they were looking over the unit and washing it. We had run a suicide call the day previous, and the person we ultimately transported was armed, but it was confirmed by the Montgomery County Police, that the subject, quite a fine fellow, did NOT discharge his weapon.

So, who was it then? While we're on the subject, should you ever need someone to talk to, or if life gets a bit heavy, the suicide and crisis lifeline is SMS 988, and is available 24 hours a day. Be well, I’ll need you to buy my unabridged 8-track tape audio books about cheeses of the world, no longer produced!

There were those times and then the times that were simply amazing. We delivered two babies in the field. These were all second babies. The first of the two, once I had delivered the baby, I handed the little one off to Shannon M. Shannon was beaming, and once I cut the umbilical cord, I went to hand the baby to mom, and I almost didn’t get it away from her. Cut to a few years later, ooh, not good. I found out I don’t handle death well and after years of service, I washed out. One particular call was the catalyst, and I haven’t spoken, written or touched on the subject for 30 years. A call we had no control over but haunts my memory, even now. Let’s move on.

Next Stop, Retail (Though, I Should Have Kept on Going) After a few stints doing other things, like loss prevention, I didn’t prevent much loss, so I decided to try something else. The manager of a retail establishment was my next stop. I did build a good set of management skills while working at Sam Goody. This was a great gig. I always loved the people that worked with me, I’m still friends with some of them, but it was the early formation of Karen’s and Ken’s that made me think, clicking my heels together like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, Oh Toto, there’s no place like somewhere else. There’s no place like somewhere else. I left retail and the fire department around the same time and returned to school.

When All Else Fails, Go to School College was neat, we’ll say that. I was still a horrible student but met great people and still bug them to this day. It was there that I got into radio and almost television. We found out in my television production class that this face doesn’t belong on low-definition TV and high–definition, ha, not a chance. Radio was for me. Well, at least my look on the radio.

My radio journey started in a small town many have never heard of, called, Washington DC. A small piece of land nestled between Maryland and Virginia. The land, a gift, from the lovely Marylanders for our houses of government. It’s a nice drive, however, once you get there, lots of hot air, like A-LOT. DC couldn’t handle me or didn’t want to. So, they shipped me off to the Green Mountain State of Vermont and Classic Rock 101, The Fox. That station no longer exists. What a beautiful state. If you get a chance, go. The fall leaves changing is one of the most awesome things you can take in. There are also lots of winter and summer sports but not at night. Après skiing (after skiing) is what the locals and visitors like. I’ll tell ya what it is, it’s booze. They ski or snowboard, and then they drink.

Moving to the 'Corniest' State I Could Think Of (Sorry, Had to Do It) The Greenest Mountains couldn’t contain me so I moved to the corniest state I could think of, IOWA! KDAT brought me in to entertain anyone who would listen. Cedar Rapids was very kind to me. You even offered up one of your own, how kind. On a crazy day in May, the 5th I do believe, at a Cinco De Mayo celebration. I met my wife, Rebecca. Rebecca wanted to know if anyone wanted to do anything after the remote. Her sister, Heidi Abel at the time, let me know that it was not them Rebecca was talking to. Oh, I said. We had a drink that night and have been together ever since. I left Cedar Rapids right before the flood of 2008, taking a job in Peru IL.

I was there for almost 20 years on several stations at the same company. After some life-changing events. We are now back in Cedar Rapids. I will hopefully entertain you as well as Bob James. If you see me and I’m behind glass, this is the one time you can tap on it. If I’m out in the wild, say hi. I’d love to meet you and chat about you.

The picture is of an old helmet and the ambulance that took the shot.    I took that picture a few days after they repaired it or found it, can't remember.

If you have a moment tell me a fact about you, would love to hear it.

Thanks for checking this out. See YOU soon, hopefully. -Sloppy Joe.